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WHY DOES TITHING WORK?

( from the book: The Miracle Of Tithing by Mark Hansen)
Tithing works because it works from inside you. It changes your belief that life is about taking, to a new understanding that life is about giving. Giving guarantees receiving. It always has and it always will. What is amazing is that giving expands your spirituality, especially when you give in the spirit of love, joy and cheerfulness from an unselfish heart. God is everyone’s source. Individuals and opportunities are merely channels or instruments of supply. Rest assured that God’s great resourcefulness will miraculously find its way back to you in many unexpected, bountiful ways.

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE SPIRIT OF GIVING?
The spirit of giving means everything. Money gifts, in and of themselves, are neutral, they are neither good or bad...your thinking makes it so. However, a gift given with the attitude of gratitude and with the spirit of expectancy always gets a bountiful return. Remember, God is the Source. Give before you receive, and expect a miraculous return. You and I are to give expecting to help others and ourselves in multiplied ways. Tithing is devoted to spreading the knowledge of the spiritual truths.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I GIVE AND DON’T RECEIVE?
Check yourself out with this simple test: 1. Do I recognize God as my source and supply of all good? 2. Am I tithing regularly and with a system? Do I tithe when I receive income of any kind, at the beginning of projects and at their successful conclusion? 3. Am I truly expecting to receive? Am I awake to all the possible channels that are trying to give me surplus good? Write out your answers to these three questions – privately – then ask your spouse or someone close to you (someone you trust) to respond to the same questions. It might enlighten you. Basically, it’s simple to receive more from life and give more to life. Like attracts like, so give generously and boldly with an attitude of gratitude and your receiving will be the same.

CAN YOU DEFER THE PAYMENT OF YOUR TITHES TO A FUTURE TIME?
Most individuals need the security of tithing in the sweet here and now, to feel and know that their good is circulating freely and easily into their ever present now. However, men like Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller all had prayerful covenants with God. Each of their memoirs state that they asked God to help them realize their fullest potential and they would remember God and over tithe out of the ever increasing abundance. Each did help churches and were individually phenomenal philanthropists who ultimately funded foundations to directly and indirectly be “...about your Father’s business.” Carnegie founded and funded the American free library system. The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations are both multi-billion dollar enterprises attempting to serve the health and educational needs of humanity’s less fortunate people.

WHAT IS THE BEST TITHING DEMONSTRATION YOU’VE EVER HEARD?
Larry Gates, formerly a fund raiser for Dr. Robert Schuller, told me that John Crean, founder and CEO of Fleetwood International, publicly gave (tithed) twelve million dollars worth of ranch stock to Dr. Schuller’s ministry. Fleetwood stock jumped three times the same day because the U.S. Government simultaneously announced that they were putting a lot of money into modular housing, which is Fleetwood’s specialty. You may call this a coincidence. I don’t think so. I heard Mr. Crean interviewed by Dr. Schuller and he stated that when he was young he had a friend who told him that in life, “There are winners and losers. Winners are Givers and Losers are Takers.” He chose to be a winner and he now says he tithes thirty percent of his gross income.

I BELIEVE ALL THE UNIVERSE IS GOD’S CHURCH, SO CAN I GIVE TO THE HUNGRY AND THE POOR RATHER THAN BUILDING ANOTHER UNNECESSARY CHURCH BUILDING?
It is stated above, what the Bible says. However, fifty percent of Americans do not attend any church and probably have similar feelings to those expressed above. In-so-far as God is omni-present throughout the universe, it is better to give somewhere than not give at all. Each of us has an intrinsic need to give. Jesus said, “That which you have done to the least of my children, you have done unto me.” Therefore, it is good to aid and assist the hungry and the poor. If possible, help them to learn the principles so they can then help themselves. Each person needs to learn the spiritual truth of Tithing and use it. Until this happens, no education, social reform, or political reform will do any lasting good. * * The concept of a hand-up rather than a handout is the right idea. The oft-quoted phrase, “If you feed a person a fish you feed him/her for a day. If you teach a person to fish, you feed him/her for a lifetime.” Be into teaching these principles. I have known several individuals who have been so inspired and helped by the ideas of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, that they individually have given thousands of copies in hopes of teaching principles in a useable way. Also, please read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay on the “Law of Compensation”. It will show you that it is impossible to give without sooner or later receiving in kind. It proves that giving does not cause you to have less, but in fact, guarantees that ultimately and inevitably you will have more. The law of compensation pays you back in multiple returns. While the principle is invisible, it is forever working. We must feed the physical human food, before we can serve him or her with higher levels of spiritual awareness. In a magazine interview in Personal Selling Power, March 1983 issue, Dr. Wayne Dyer, best selling author, says, “Everyone who knows me knows that for every dollar that I spend on myself, I spend ten on other people. I always have been generous to a fault. There are a lot of things I do because I feel they are helpful to other people. I see myself as a giver. I give a lot of money to charity. I spend a lot of my time helping unfortunate people learn the tithing principles and show them empirically through recognition of their own demonstration that it works.” Reaching others by teaching others will enrich you and the world. If everyone learned and practiced tithing there would be no more lack of any kind. With children, the principle is easy to teach. It is also much easier to start this practice by tithing ten cents out of every dollar when you are young rather than waiting until you have $1,000,000 and saying that you will then give $100,000. I am sure that if you start small, you can ever grow tall in giving.

IF I DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY, HOW CAN I GIVE?
Everyone has something to give. Think about volunteering your time and energy. When you give, miracles happen in your life. You can support worthy causes. Visit a convalescent home, befriend the elderly, assist in a children’s cancer ward, give time to the Special Olympics or go to any hospital and offer your services. These activities do not have to be long term commitments, but are sure to cure depression and make you feel better about yourself. DVD: SOWING A SEED IN YOUR TIME OF NEED http://bookstore.joelosteen.com FREE eBOOK: The Miracle Of Tithing http://www.scribd.com/doc/39481619